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Building Blocks to Success...
Sherry Silinger, CFO of Delta Corporate Services manages a $30 Million dollar company with over 190 employees, takes time out of her busy day to share her career insights with Up Close & Virtual®...
Tell us briefly about your company, your area of expertise and responsibilities:
I have always felt that my career over the past 25 years has been one of a building block format. I started my career in retail in Maryland working 50 hours or more a week as a department manager. I soon moved to NYC to begin my career in office management and finance. Throughout my career, I have always held positions in which I managed and motivated the staff. It just came naturally for me. From the start up companies to advertising to my present job in the IT world, my responsibilities always focused around the people, the infrastructure, the support. Today, I am responsible for running a $30Million dollar company with over 190 employees in 4 locations in the US. A great deal of my time is spent in the financial area, working with budgets, projections and finances. For the past 13 years, helping to build and support Delta has been a personal and gratifying accomplishment.
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Describe a day in your professional life...
Problem solver, solution provider, spokesperson, cheerleader. These are the words that I would say describe both me and my day. On most days, I might be reviewing our financials and budgets or meeting with Human Resources over compliancy or benefits or discussing with Internal Systems what upgrade or security we need to look at. No two days are the same, nor have they been for the past 13 years. I might spend some time meeting with management to discuss an upcoming event or business practice. At Delta, we have a completely open door policy which allows anyone who has any type of question to come in and discuss it. A great deal of my day is reacting to what is happening to others on staff and helping them through it.
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How is technology impacting the nature of your work and how you do your work?
Everything happens so much faster and this places a greater demand for quick response and information. We have a 24 hour rule in the office that we feel it is acceptable and professional to reply or get back to someone within 24 hours. I wonder if going forward, whether this will remain acceptable as people feel, with the touch of a button, you should be able to provide the information immediately. The days of sitting and thinking about things are really behind us. In order to stay competitive, we all need to be able to obtain our information quickly and protect it at the same time. Protecting our environments definitely presents new challenges to all businesses.
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Was there a lesson or skill learned from your first job that has been invaluable on your career path?
Yes, treat everyone equally no matter what position you have or what position they have. Some day, you never know who you will need to help you and you always want everyone to be respected for the job that they do.
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Has Higher Education been important in your career path? What educational advice would you give to viewers? Tell us the path you took to where you are today.
As a mother of a teenager who will be entering college in the near future, I am a strong believer in higher education. I am a graduate of the University of Maryland, with a BS in Textiles and Apparel. Although today my degree does not really apply to the work that I am doing, the knowledge and experiences I received at college will stay with me for ever. I truly feel my work ethics and ability to go above and beyond with a task is what enabled me to achieve the career path that I did. Working for small and mid-size companies, allowed me to gain the insight into the foundations of the companies and the education that I received was through seminars, workshops and other training facilities. I obtained a great deal of the training from mentors within the organization and reached out to other sources when applicable. There is textbook training, which is wonderful for many people, and then there is "on the job training", which has always worked well for me. If someone thoroughly enjoys taking classes and learning and experiencing through a structured training, they should make sure that their company supports this and will assist them with reimbursement. I was very fortunate to find my present employer, Michael Iovino, 13 years ago and he gave me the opportunity to learn and grow along with Delta over these 13 years.
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What is your work ethic, and how did it develop? Why do you get up to go to work everyday? What inspires you?
I believe even as a young student in grammar school, I always had a good work ethic. When I would come home from school, I would immediately do my homework so that I had a sense of completion. I always like things to be completed and like to see them through to the end.
I have always enjoyed being a career woman and being able to support myself. When I got married, I continued to work and after the birth of both of my children, I quickly returned to work. Financial obligations was partly the reason, the other is that I truly feel fulfilled having a career. My children understand how important it is to me but I also make sure that I make time for their events and their activities. A very wise business man told me, You have to remember that family must come first. A job is very important but making time for your family, is the key.
The thing that inspires me the most is watching the growth of the people I work with. For some, it has been 10 years or more that we have known and worked together and grown together. Watching the growth and seeing the new challenges taken on and met is truly what makes me go home with a smile on my face. Sure, there have been many rocky roads along the way, highs and lows, but I have always enjoyed the work world.
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What advice would you give to potential job applicants to help them succeed in the ever-changing global marketplace?
When I interview someone for a position or when I do a training on interviewing for H.S. students, I always try to tell them to find an environment that is right for them. Be sure on the interview that they get a sense that this is the place they want to wake up and go to each day. Many people today feel that there is no employer loyalty so take what you can and move on, but I don’t agree. I am still a believer that if you do the best job you can do and continue to grow and learn and have a POSITIVE ATTITUDE about what you are doing, almost anything can happen. With today’s every changing marketplace, it is very important to keep an open mind about your goals and be aware that they may have to shift along the way in order to stay successful.
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| "I am still a believer that if you do the best job you can do and continue to grow and learn and have a POSITIVE ATTITUDE about what you are doing, almost anything can happen. With today’s every changing marketplace, it is very important to keep an open mind about your goals and be aware that they may have to shift along the way in order to stay successful." -- Sherry Silinger |
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Do you have suggestions of any professional associations, trade journals, periodicals, events, etc. that someone pursuing a career in your field should be aware of &/or attend?
I feel a person should join associations that are convenient to go to and that provide networking opportunities. I am a strong believer, and highly recommend to my staff, that they join associations in their field and most of Delta’s staff have done so.
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Are there any emerging trends in your industy/company that will impact your hiring criteria?
As a company, we listen to the needs of our clients and the industry and try to offer services and staff to fill these needs.
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Tell us about your Corporate Diversity/Women’s Programs:
In 2003, Delta received the TWIN Management Forum of Central New Jersey, Corporate Recognition Award for having a successful track record in advancing women. Delta has always had a wide range of programs to help women increase the critical skills necessary to lead, woman to woman mentoring, tuition reimbursement, part time schedules, time off for volunteer activities, etc. Diversity is truly supported at Delta on a global scale.
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What women have inspired you on your career path? How?
My mother, Ruth Buckler. My mom returned to work full time when I was in Junior High School and she showed me early on that you could have a career and still raise a family.
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What challenges have you faced in business because you are a woman? Share your strategies for overcoming them.
In the early years of Delta, I was the only woman manager/director and at the monthly Director meetings, there might have been 8 or 9 men and myself at the meeting. I always made sure that I spoke clearly, intelligently and was prepared for the meeting. I still do feel that women have to prove themselves more each and every day and when we allow the emotions to get into the picture, it is used against us. Let’s face it, we are women, we have emotions and some days we are able to control them while on other days, we have difficulty. Should you find yourself having an emotional type day or moment, the best thing I have found to do is try to separate yourself for 20 or 30 minutes either by going for a ride, listening to music that makes you feel better or simply having a sweet snack and breathing. A very good friend of mine, Dr. Debra Taubenslag, always reminds me to breathe. Such a simple thing, yet we sometimes just need to breathe.
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| "Treat everyone equally no matter what position you have or what position they have. Some day, you never know who you will need to help you and you always want everyone to be respected for the job that they do."
--Sherry Silinger |
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How do yo maintain balance in your life? or Do you?!
Some days are certainly easier than others. For the most part, I plan ahead. If I know that I have a very busy work week or busy week with activities outside of work, I plan ahead. There are some of my co-workers and my non-working friends, who really do call me Supermom. I take that as a compliment and hope that I inspire them rather than frighten them. Over the past few years, I have kept the balance by remembering myself. We need to do things for ourselves, whether it be a dance class, a workout or sports activity, or simply lunch or dinner with a friend. Making time for yourself is critical in maintaining the balance.
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Share your Words of Wisdom:
Be Nice. It seems so simple and the final words of Delta’s Employee Philosophy is, Be Nice. People laugh when they see it because they think, how simple. But is it really. In business do people always remember to Be Nice? When my daughter started elementary school many years ago, I told her that she should always be nice and if someone new started at school, I wanted her to always be nice and help them to feel comfortable in their new environment. Recently, she told me that she always remembers this and tries to be nice all of the time. With the world being such a busy place and people always running to their next place, just remembering to BE NICE! It makes such a big difference.
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Thank you Sherry Silinger for sharing your insights and experience!
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